Please check the CHE-WA website to stay abreast of the latest postings, news and events: http://washington.chenw.org.
To join the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE) and CHE-Washington, please complete the form at http://www.healthandenvironment.org/roles/register?&phase=registerform. Be sure to mark that you want to join the Washington State Regional Group at the bottom of the application.
1) Don't miss tonight's environmental health lecture at Town Hall -- the fourth annual environmental health lecture series entitled "Our Health, Our Environment: Making the Link -- Seeking Solutions." The series, sponsored by the Seattle Biotech Legacy Foundation and organized by the Institute for Children's Environmental Health, includes one lecture each month January through April. Remaining lectures:
All lectures will be held at Seattle Town Hall from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., preceded by a reception from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. For more information and to purchase admission, please visit http://washington.chenw.org/lectures.html. Admission is also available at the door.
2) Notes and slide presentations from CHE-WA's January 4th quarterly meeting are posted on our website: http://washington.chenw.org/meetings.html. If you are interested in joining the newly formed Climate Change and Health Working Group resulting from discussion at this meeting, please contact Elise Miller at emiller@iceh.org.
February 8, 2007
9:00 a.m. Pacific / Noon Eastern
Jointly hosted by CHE, Health Care Without Harm, and Physicians for Social Responsibility, this call will feature special guest Cindy Parker, MD, MPH, of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. For this call Dr. Parker's presentation will first review the latest scientific consensus on climate change and human contributions to it, and then explore the broad array of human health impacts expected or suspected -- these include not only infectious disease risks, but also increased human risks from extreme weather events, from drought and water shortages, and from changes to agriculture and food systems. To join this call and receive dial-in information, please RSVP as described below. A copy of the presentation will be made available to registered participants prior to the call.
Contact: Julia Varshavsky, Julia@HealthandEnvironment.org
February 8, 2007
6:00 p.m. social, 7:00 p.m. program
Seattle, Washington
at NW Environmental Education Council, 650 S. Orcas St. Suite 220
This is part of a four-hour public television series highlighting citizen activists and practical solutions and models for urban transformation. Narrated by Former Governor Gary Locke, the program reports on the environmental transformation of Seattle as it struggles to combat the environmental consequences of its increasing population. It hopes to help educate people about steps they can take to go green and foster a positive relationship with the environment. The program features Martha Rose, Billy Frank, John Plaza and Martin Tobias, plus the Peoples Waterfront Coalition, Dick Falkenbury and One Less Car program.
Website: http://www.nweec.org/PICS/edens.pdf
Contact: 206-762-1976
February 21, 2007
10:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Victoria, British Columbia Canada
at Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites, 345 Quebec Street
Emerging infectious diseases and toxics are pressing issues for wildlife professionals. This one-day symposium will provide current information regarding the implications of emerging infectious diseases and toxics for wildlife and ecosystem management, wildlife and human health perspectives, media representation of the issues, and recommended safe practices to avoid exposure and/or spread. Experts in emerging infectious diseases and toxics will present their research on the following topics: avian influenza, west nile virus, chronic wasting disease, hantavirus, chytridiomycosis, herbicide/amphibian interactions (glyphosate and atrazine), and insecticide poisoning in birds of prey. We will also discuss the accuracy of media presentations, public perception and effectiveness of government policies.
Website: http://www.snwvb.org/victoria-meeting2.html
Contact: Elke Wind, 250-716-1119 or ewind@telus.net
February 22, 2007
7:30 a.m. - noon
Seattle, Washington
at Seattle University, 12th and Marion
Sustainability is an important trend for business, one that occupies the world stage front and center, and one that has strong local implications, too. Business is well-positioned to create value from sustainability, reduce risk through sustainable approaches, and lead the development of solutions to the world's most pressing issues -- such as climate change, water scarcity, energy supply, waste/pollution and ecosystem destruction. In this forum and in-depth workshop, Andrea Ramage, director of Sustainable Solutions, will present the links between business and sustainability through a Sustainability Value Model, based on Dr. Stuart Hart's work at Cornell University. The framework will help workshop attendees to better grasp the many dimensions of sustainability relative to their own organizations, assess their organization's status with respect to sustainability, and identify potential future risks and opportunities. Breakfast Forum and Workshop. Register for the Forum only or for the combined program with the Workshop. Registration prices include discounts for students, NBIS members and Seattle University staff.
Website: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/9390
Contact: info@nbis.org
CHE-Washington welcomes these new members:
For a searchable database of organizations with which CHE-WA members are affiliated, please visit http://washington.chenw.org/members.html.
from the City of Seattle
http://www.seattle.gov/personnel/employment/view.asp?j=DON-702264
This position, with the Department of Neighborhoods, is to work with community groups to develop community-level climate protection projects and seek funding via the Neighborhood Matching Fund. The position closes February 18th.
See solicitation at http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?oppId=12472&mode=VIEW
This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits proposals for financial assistance to eligible entities through the Community for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. CARE is a unique community-based, community-driven, multimedia demonstration program designed to help communities understand and reduce risks due to toxics and environmental pollutants from all sources. The CARE grant program will help communities form collaborative partnerships, develop a comprehensive understanding of the many sources of risk from toxics and environmental pollutants, set priorities, and identify and carry out projects to reduce risks through collaborative action at the local level. CARE's long-term goal is to help communities build self-sustaining, community-based partnerships that will continue to improve human health and local environments into the future. This is the third year requesting proposals for the CARE grant program; the first was in the spring of 2005. The objective of the CARE grant program is to investigate the effectiveness of the CARE process--whether this cross-Agency, multi-media program provides greater environmental benefits than either non-collaborative or single media approaches. For more information, please visit http://www.epa.gov/CARE/.
from Michael J DiBartolomeis, PhD, DABT, Chief, Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program & California Safe Cosmetics Program
As you may already know, on July 1, 2007, a new California Department of Public Health (CDPH) will be created that will be made up of the public health prevention programs currently in the California Department of Health Services (CDHS). The portion of CDHS related to provision of health care services will become a new department called the California Department of Health Care Services. The Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control (DEODC) will be a part of the new public health department. DEODC's programs include occupational and environmental health and investigations, child and adult lead poisoning prevention, the environmental health laboratory, and new programs such as biomonitoring and safe cosmetics, among others.
CDPH will have a Public Health Advisory Committee made up of a total of 15 members (nine appointed by the Governor and six appointed by the Legislature) to provide input to the programs and policies of this new department.
We are urging you to consider who you know that has knowledge, ideas, and experience in promoting public health, worker health, and/or environmental health -- and who might want to serve as an advisor to CDPH as the agency charts its new directions toward improving the health of Californians. For more information, please visit http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ohb or write to mdibarto@dhs.ca.gov.
from the Associated Press, Manufacturing.Net
February 5, 2007
http://www.manufacturing.net/article/CA6413246.html?industryid=44336
NAIROBI, Kenya - The U.N. called Monday for tighter regulation on technology to change or create materials at the atomic and molecular level, a process being used to develop new drugs, foods and other commercial products. In its annual report of the global environment, the U.N.'s Environment Program said "swift action" was needed by policy makers to properly evaluate the new science of nanotechnology. Although nanotechnology could transform electronics, energy industries and medicine, more research is needed to identify environmental, health and socio-economic hazards, Achim Steiner, who heads UNEP, said in the 87-page report.
Article Summary: Nanotechnology is technology on the scale of a billionth of a meter, or about one 80,000th of the width of a human hair: the scale of atoms and molecules. Nanotechnology materials are being developed for use in drugs, foods, cosmetics and medical devices. UNEP says in its report that it remains unclear what nanoparticles will do when released into the earth's atmosphere, water or soil. Denmark's Environment Minister Connie Hedegaard told journalists that the European Union had set up a number of scientific commissions to look into the effects of nanotechnology and to decide what kind of regulation should be applied. Priority must be given to assessing the potential risks of nanomaterials already being mass-produced, UNEP said in its report. The agency is calling for global test protocols and greater cooperation between private- and public-sector industries and between the developing and industrialized world. UNEP also wants public education about nanotechnology to raise awareness and provide information on the potential benefits and risks.
[Editor's note: A lecture tonight at Seattle's Town Hall will further discuss this topic. Please see http://washington.chenw.org/lectures.html for more information.]
by Abram Katz, New Haven [Connecticut] Register
February 5, 2007
http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17810050&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=566835&rfi=6
The American cleanliness craze may come back to haunt us. Millions of Americans are slathering antibacterial products on their hands, unaware that the chemicals are considered unnecessary, are breeding resistant germs and appear to threaten the environment, experts said. We're encouraged to spray germ destroyers on "odor-causing bacteria" in bathrooms and kitchen counters. Everything from soaps to chopsticks to steering wheels to toys to toothpaste is imbued with these poisons. Consequently, traces of the chemicals triclosan and tricloban have been detected in mother's milk and 60 percent of the rivers and streams of the United States. The persistent chemicals also end up in sludge that is used in fertilizer to grow the grains and produce we eat.
Article Summary: Many questions surround triclosan and tricloban, but the companies that use them have no financial incentive to answer them. And it's not as if triclosan or tricloban is a bulwark of public health. Physicians, environmental health scientists and infectious disease doctors said that, despite the advertising hype and proliferation of germ-killing goods of all kinds, simple soap and water is better for home use. In addition, repeated use of antibacterials eliminates the weak bacteria and enhances strains able to shrug the chemicals off. Even most hospitals do not use antibacterial cleaners, preferring alcohol-based liquids to disinfect hands before and after seeing patients.
No scientific studies to date suggest that triclosan reduces the spread of food-borne illnesses or infectious diseases. However, overuse of triclosan could become a contributing factor to the rise in antibiotic resistance, according to Stuart B. Levy, professor of microbiology at Tufts University and director of the Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance in Boston. In addition, the consequences of exposing children to triclosan and tricloban are not known.
by Jamie Talan, New York Newsday
February 5, 2007
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-hslead0206,0,3014503.story?coll=ny-leadhealthnews-headlines
Low levels of mercury and lead exposure can damage developing brain cells -- a finding that might help explain how these toxicants can lead to a host of mental and medical problems, a new study said.
Article Summary: Mark Noble, a professor of biomedical genetics and neurobiology at the University of Rochester and senior author of the study in the journal PLoS Biology, explained: "There is a huge problem in toxicology. There are 80,000 to 150,000 environmental toxicants about which we know nothing. Nobody knows how to screen for them or even where to start." Noble and his colleagues conducted their work in the laboratory, where they subjected so-called glial progenitor stem cells in the brain to low levels of lead and mercury. They found that these brain cells stopped dividing. They simply shut down. The mercury levels previously were thought to be safe in humans -- 5 to 6 parts per billion. When the researchers looked at the cellular pathways affected by these exposures, they found the toxicants were disrupting cell function by increasing oxidative stress. Glial progenitor cells also are present in adult brains. Noble said they have no idea what effects low level environmental toxicants are having but he suspects they might be making these brain cells more vulnerable to damage and disease.
The study could be a major step in identifying methods of prevention and treatment, since finding one targeted pathway provides hope for identifying a single treatment for many kinds of environmental exposures. Noble's laboratory is studying a chemical called n-acetyl-cysteine, a potent antioxidant, that works to protect this pathway and could prevent abnormal cell damage and its consequences.
by Randall Chase, Associated Press, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
February 5, 2007
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/16629649.htm
DOVER, Del. -- One year after accepting a government challenge to work toward eliminating the use of a potentially dangerous chemical used to make Teflon and other products, the DuPont Co. said Monday it plans to stop using the chemical by 2015. The Environmental Protection Agency asked the Wilmington-based chemical giant and seven other companies last year to commit to a 95 percent reduction in environmental emissions and product content levels of perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and associated chemicals by 2010. DuPont makes the chemical at a plant near southeast Ohio in Parkersburg, W.Va. The companies also were asked to work toward the elimination of PFOA and associated chemicals from emissions and products by 2015.
Article Summary: DuPont said technological advances have allowed it to remove more than 97 percent of trace levels of PFOA and associated chemicals from surface protection fluorotelomers used in products such as oil-resistant paper packaging and stain- and water-repellent textiles. DuPont also has been able to reduce PFOA content by at least 97 percent in fluoropolymer coatings used in Teflon cookware, architectural coatings and electronics applications. DuPont also has reduced manufacturing emissions of PFOA by 94 percent worldwide since 2000, and expects to achieve reductions of 97 percent by the end of this year. While studies continue, DuPont maintains that there are no human health effects known to be caused by PFOA, and that Teflon-coated cookware is safe. An EPA science advisory board last year concluded that PFOA should be classified as a likely carcinogen.
DuPont is one of the largest users of PFOA and the only company that manufactures it in the United States. In 2005, the company agreed to pay more than $107 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed by Ohio and West Virginia residents living near a DuPont plant in Parkersburg, W.Va., who claimed that DuPont intentionally withheld and misrepresented information about the human health threat posed by PFOA.
by Alex Dobuzinskis, Los Angeles Daily News
February 4, 2007
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_5158993
Researchers know the rocket fuel component perchlorate can be harmful to humans, they just can't agree on how much of it makes drinking water unsafe. State and federal agencies have set different levels, and environmental groups have battled industry over the science of understanding perchlorate's health effects.
Article Summary: Perchlorate impacts the thyroid and the intake of iodine, which could affect pregnant women and fetuses and permanently damage a fetus or infant's IQ level. California, the National Academy of Sciences and Massachusetts have all used a 2002 study that tested the effects of perchlorate on humans. But they came to different results. California in 2004 set six parts per billion as a goal for how much perchlorate should be tolerated in drinking water, although the state is still formulating an enforceable standard. Massachusetts last year set the nation's first enforceable drinking water standard for perchlorate at two parts per billion. And the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which a few years ago was considering a standard of one part per billion, revised its assessment based on a National Academy of Sciences study. The EPA considers anything below 24.5parts per billion a safe level, but it has no enforceable standard. The EPA standard was taken from the National Academy of Sciences recommendation. Scientists divided the level of perchlorate it would expect to affect a healthy human by a factor of 10. That resulted in the finding that 24.5 parts per billion should be the limit for perchlorate in drinking water. But a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released last year suggests it could take less perchlorate than that to harm pregnant women and their fetuses, especially those with low iodine levels. The nonprofit Environmental Working Group has translated the amount of perchlorate identified in the CDC study as potentially harmful as five parts per billion.
by Katy Stech, Charleston Post and Courier
February 4, 2007
http://www.charleston.net/assets/webPages/departmental/news/Stories.aspx?section=business&tableId=129110&pubDate=2/4/2007
The homeland security spotlight has shifted to the nation's 15,000 chemical manufacturing plants, including the dozen or so in the Charleston region. Spurred on by worse-case scenarios, the Department of Homeland Security recently issued a draft of plans that would make chemical industry officials tighten the borders around their facilities.
Article Summary: The proposed regulations, called the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, would require companies to conduct a risk-assessment program and then make government-recommended changes based on the results. Those changes could include extra security measures, such as guarding against sabotage from employees, and establishing a "chemical buffer zone" that would include improving fencing and installing remote surveillance devices. The overarching goal, according to US Senator Lindsey Graham, R-SC, "is to come up with a reasonable solution to what I think is a real problem, which is chemical plants being overly vulnerable to an attack." The government's risk assessment would rank chemical facilities based on the amount of toxic chemicals they handle. The list includes chlorine gas and sulfur dioxide, which are classified as "high risk" and are subject to the strictest regulation. The public has until Wednesday to comment on the proposed rules. The final regulations are expected to go into effect April 4. Congress granted Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff the authority to regulate chemical plants in September by passing the Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2007.
by Douglas Fischer, Oakland Tribune
February 4, 2007
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_5156161
SAN FRANCISCO -- Your ability to reproduce -- and the health of your child and even your child's children -- hinges on an exquisitely timed series of chemical reactions controlled by infinitesimally tiny amounts of hormones.
Article Summary: Last week hundreds of researchers gathered at the University of California, San Francisco, warned society may be scrambling those reactions with great peril with synthetic chemicals. The chemicals, known as endocrine disruptors, are found everywhere in our environment: food, lotions, shampoos, baby bottles, toys, appliances, even casings for medicines. They mimic hormones at levels scientists only recently have been able to measure, and some are active at concentrations of a part-per-trillion or less. In many cases, the effect of such pollution on our bodies remains as unknown and mysterious as the processes they potentially disrupt. The list of potential effects, scientists conclude, cover every aspect of reproductive and sexual development -- from preconception to menopause. Every key developmental stage is driven by a tightly choreographed fluctuation in hormones. The science of endocrine disruptors is still controversial, and the effects in humans are uncertain. Government panels assessing the evidence for many compounds repeatedly have found no need for concern. But scientists say disturbing gaps remain in our knowledge, such as the role testosterone plays in a baby boy's brain development and how synthetic fragrances enhance the ability of more harmful compounds to cross the placenta. Recent research found that mice exposed in utero to bisphenol-A, a estrogenic additive used to line food cans and make plastic shatterproof, saw a 40 percent increase in chromosomally abnormal eggs. The result was a three-generation hit: The mother, her fetus and the fetus's eggs -- the mother's grandchildren. Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a drug given in the 1940s to the 1970s to pregnant women prone to have miscarriages, did not harm the mothers, but DES ravaged the reproductive tracts of their children.
by Cherie Black, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
February 3, 2007
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/302360_olympichouse03.html
Article Summary: Dubbed by some as the "autism diet," a gluten- and casein-free way of eating is often used by people diagnosed with the digestive disorder celiac disease. Gluten products such as wheat, rye and barley are eliminated, as are dairy products, which contain the protein casein. Stobbe said for some children, especially the more severe autism cases and those with physical complaints, the diet works well. They are calmer, have better attention spans and have less severe behavioral disturbances. Why the diet seems to work isn't completely understood. One theory involves the "leaky gut syndrome," in which the autistic child's body isn't able to process proteins found in wheat and dairy products, said Gary Stobbe, medical director of Seattle's Autism Spectrum Treatment and Research Center, a nonprofit organization that diagnoses, treats and manages people with autism. The undigested chunks of protein get into the bloodstream and affect the brain. Another theory is the body's immune system is reacting to the proteins in the body. One study under way at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York looks at the effects of the diet in autistic children between the ages of 2 1/2 and 4 1/2. Sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, it began in 2004 and should be completed in 2008. Dr. Geraldine Dawson, director of the University of Washington's Autism Center, is waiting for data from more studies before she'll recommend the diet to her patients, but tells parents who have decided to try it to make sure a nutritionist is involved. She said about half the children seen at the center are on the diet, which has worked for some, and not others.
by Janet Raloff, Science News
February 3, 2007
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20070203/food.asp
Article Summary: A rapidly escalating demand for the corn that underlies a broad range of products, from breakfast cereals to milk and meats, has been driving up the price of this grain, he notes. Those commodity-price hikes could soon inflate the cost of plenty of other products. Founder of the Earth Policy Institute think tank in Washington, DC, Lester Brown has been watching corn prices rise throughout the past year, driven, he says, by rising demand for corn-based ethanol as a fuel alternative to gasoline. President Bush in his State of the Union address called for a new decade-long program aimed at reducing U.S. gasoline use by 20 percent. The White House explained that this new program would rely on ethanol made from corn and grasses. However, only corn distilleries are ready to ramp up their production of ethanol within the President's timeframe. The Energy Department acknowledges that new, more complicated technologies will be needed before other ethanol sources, such as switchgrass, become economically feasible. Brown says that in this country, US policymakers need to start asking themselves whether fuel is the best use of grain. The amount required "to fill a 25-gallon SUV tank with ethanol will feed a person for a year," he notes.
According to Brown's report, because U.S. livestock producers feed grain to most of their animals, higher corn prices can quickly translate into higher meat and dairy prices. Moreover, as demand for corn grows, farmers may begin shifting some of their acreage away from wheat or soy into corn. Thus, any increase in corn production could reduce the supply of those crops and increase their prices. With the United States producing 70 percent of the corn that other countries import from all sources, shifting very much of the grain from food into energy could have global economic repercussions.
[Editor's notes: A lecture on March 21st at Seattle's Town Hall will further discuss this topic. Please see http://washington.chenw.org/lectures.html for more information. Also, see a related article at http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070204/12ethanol.htm]
by Steven Reinberg, HealthDay News, Washington Post
February 2, 2007
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/02/AR2007020201198.html
Global warming not only poses significant threats to the Earth's ecology, it may also unleash unprecedented health risks, experts say. On Friday, an international panel of scientists released a report predicting that global warming due to greenhouse-gas emissions will continue for centuries, no matter what's done to check pollution. The result will be killer heat waves, devastating droughts, rising sea levels and fiercer storms.
Article Summary: That flooding and drought with bring attendant health problems, McGeehin said. "There are health effects secondary to flooding, such as contaminated water supplies, that could result in the spread of infectious diseases," said Michael A. McGeehin, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects. Droughts, which are becoming more common and longer lasting, can lead to starvation and the destruction of entire ways of life, particularly in regions -- such as sub-Saharan Africa -- that are least equipped to deal with such catastrophes. McGeehin also foresees the possible spread of mosquito-borne illnesses such as malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever and encephalitis. "As the climate warms, we may see a change in the range of vector-borne diseases," he said. The effects of climate change are already apparent, as some of these mosquito-borne diseases are spreading to new areas as the world warms and precipitation increases. Dr. Paul Epstein, associate director of Harvard Medical School's Center for Health and the Global Environment, noted that even in the United States, ticks, mosquitoes and other insects that carry disease -- such as West Nile virus, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Eastern equine encephalitis and Lyme disease -- are already spreading to areas once considered too cold for them to survive. In addition, increasing air pollution from the continued burning of fossil fuels will cause higher rates of respiratory and cardiovascular disease, as well as increases in pollen and mold spores. Improving the public health infrastructure in the United States and other developed countries and improving surveillance and people's access to health care is necessary to blunt the effects. In response to the threat of climate change, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is creating an "action plan" to address the health risks posed by global warming. Epstein noted that public health officials and physicians all have to be bringing attention to the politicians and call for clean energy -- it's fundamental for public health.
by Gene Emery, Reuters, Australian
February 1, 2007
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21152321-1702,00.html
THE lavender and tea tree oils found in some soaps, shampoos, hair gels and body lotions can produce enlarged breasts in boys, researchers reported today. These plant oils were linked to abnormal breast development in three boys, which was reversed when they stopped using them, Dr. Clifford Bloch of Pediatric Endocrine Associates in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and colleagues reported.
Article Summary: The study, published in today's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests these oils could act in ways similar to the hormone estrogen. Both oils are sold over the counter in their 'pure' form and are present in an increasing number of commercial products. In laboratory tests, scientists at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in North Carolina found that both substances can mimic the action of the female hormone estrogen and block male hormones that control both masculine characteristics and inhibit the growth of breast tissue.
by Warren King, Seattle Times
February 1, 2007
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003550558_airpollution01m.html
Air pollution has long been known to be bad for the lungs. But new University of Washington research, involving thousands of older women in dozens of cities nationwide, shows that it also raises the risk of women dying from heart disease or stroke. The increased risk comes from tiny airborne particles typically found in engine exhaust. And the damage they cause to arteries in the heart and brain is worse than previously believed, the study found.
Article Summary: The scientists found that the greater the level of the so-called "fine particulate" pollution, the greater the risk of cardiovascular disease and death. Even a relatively slight increase boosted the risk significantly. The risk of dying from a stroke or heart attack increased 76 percent for each 10-microgram increase in the particles in a cubic meter of air. The danger of nonfatal strokes and heart attacks from the same rate of pollution increase pushed the risk up 24 percent. Other pollutants measured in the study did not increase the risk of heart disease or stroke. The research focused on women because there was a readily available group already enrolled in long-term health research coordinated by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Dr. Joel Kaufman, the UW professor of environmental sciences who directed the study, said, ""There is no reason to think it isn't the same for men." In a commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard scientists Douglas Dockery and Peter Stone said the current findings by Kaufman and his colleagues "strongly support the recommendation for tighter standards for long-term fine-particulate air pollution."
by Rebecca Renner, Environmental Science & Technology
January 31, 2007
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2007/jan/policy/rr_lead_air.html
Article Summary: When the U.S. EPA raised the possibility of removing lead from the list of six "criteria" air pollutants it regulates because ambient lead levels are no longer a problem in most parts of the country, the idea was widely ridiculed by environmental groups and a few key members of Congress as the action of an industry-friendly administration. The draft paper comes just months after a scientific summary by EPA advisers concluded that no safe human level for lead exposure exists. Delisting lead as a criteria pollutant fits with the letter of the Clean Air Act (CAA), but as a practical matter doesn't protect public health. The new leaders of two congressional committees that oversee EPA's activities, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), immediately denounced the delisting option and cited lead's well-known effects on the brain development of young children. Airborne concentrations of lead in the U.S. have fallen dramatically over the last 30 years.
Those who support EPA's delisting suggestion say that it may well be time to stop worrying about the very low levels of lead in the air over most parts of the country and instead focus on the high lead levels in the air around some industrial sites, such as lead smelters and battery recyclers. Currently lead is controlled as a criteria pollutant and as a Hazardous Air Pollutant (HAP). But delisting lead as a criteria pollutant would actually wind up relaxing standards for smelters and other point sources, says Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Lynn Goldman, a former EPA assistant administrator. If EPA removes lead from the criteria list, protection from lead exposure also will be weakened, particularly for individuals living near point sources such as smelters and battery recycling plants, she says.
from the Canadian Press, Toronto Star
January 31, 2007
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/176729
Ontario residents are ready for a ban on smoking in vehicles carrying children, and it's time for the provincial government to enforce one, a representative of the Ontario Medical Association said Wednesday.
Article Summary: Dr. Ted Boadway, a health consultant for the OMA, cited figures from the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit that showed support in the province for such a ban increased from 68 per cent in 2002 to 78 per cent in 2005. The OMA issued a statement Wednesday urging the provincial government to follow in the footsteps of Bangor, Maine, which approved a new law Jan. 8 prohibiting people from smoking in vehicles transporting children. Violators face fines up to $50 (U.S.). Ontario doctors said Wednesday they applaud the province's smoking ban that went into effect last year, but added that more must be done to increase awareness that adult tobacco use is also a child health problem. Even very short exposure to second-hand smoke can trigger an asthmatic attack in children, while effects on lung health have a long-term impact, Boadway said. A 2004 report by the OMA found that second-hand smoke is 23 times more toxic in a car than in a house, and research has shown that levels of toxins generated by cigarette smoke won't be significantly affected by open windows unless you can generate a 'tornado-like wind' in the car.